I Know It's Kinda Late, But Happy Birthday
by Stessa
Summary: Quinn finds herself alone with Rachel and her parents, celebrating Rachel's 16th birthday. She would have never thought she could enjoy that. Turns out, there's more to Rachel Berry than meets the eye. Faberry. Season one. Right before babygate.


**I Know It's Kinda Late, But Happy Birthday**

A _Faberry _oneshot

written by Stessa.

She stared at the pink, flower-scented envelope in her hands and bit her lip in thought. There was _no_ mistaking who it was for. The question was just – who was it _from_? This, she really couldn't guess. Especially because there'd been a similar envelope in the mailbox next to hers, but addressed to Finn.

In neat penmanship, written across the pink paper, was _Quinn. _

There was no address, no stamp or anything of the sort. Which meant that whoever had gave her this, had dropped it off themselves. Quinn furrowed her brow, her pointer finger lingering beneath the corner of the envelope, as she hesitated to rip it open. There was something vaguely familiar about the handwriting, yet she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. She shifted uncomfortably on her kitchen stool and ripped the damned thing open before she changed her mind.

As she was unfolding the paper, Finn entered the kitchen, setting himself onto the chair in front of her. "What's that?" he questioned, a curious look edged across his face.

Quinn's breath hitched in her throat while she read the piece of paper over. She didn't know if she should laugh or cry. In her hands, she held a formal invitation to Rachel Berry's birthday party the following weekend. She moved her eyes from the paper to lock them with Finn's. "There's one for you too." she mumbled, pushing the pink envelope across the table to her boyfriend. "It's an invitation to RuPaul's birthday party."

The blonde girl didn't miss the way her boyfriend's eyes lit up as he practically clawed his way through the envelope to the actual invitation. She should probably feel jealous in some way, but she was just annoyed. He was so into that Streisand-lover, it was pathetic. She wanted him to do this with her, she actually preferred for him to do this with her, but it was evident that where he really wanted to be, was with someone else. But she wasn't going to be one of those pregnant girls whose boyfriend cheats on her. Especially not if it was with that _thing_!

Plus, Quinn just really wanted to be happy. And she wanted Finn to be happy, too. Her own life was ruined at the moment after her parents had kicked her out, but that didn't mean it couldn't magically work out somehow. Furthermore, even though she and Rachel had never really been friends, she didn't exactly hate the girl. Her insults and constant teasing would suggest otherwise, and Quinn couldn't explain it away. It just happened, naturally, when she stepped into high school freshman year. Someone had to be on top, someone had to be at the bottom. And if you wanted to stay on top, there were certain ways to do it. Teasing Rachel had just been the easiest way to handle things.

But after she joined Glee (even though she did so to keep an eye on Finn!), she came to realise that Rachel was sort of sweet. They'd had their moments; moments were it would have been obviously easy for Rachel to fight back for all those years she'd humiliated her. But the other girl hadn't, she'd stayed sweet and supportive, assured Quinn that she had a friend that she could definitely count on when everyone else turned their backs on her. They weren't friends, but Quinn liked her and she _trusted_ her. More so than Santana and Brittany, who might have been her friends since they were young, but who'd blatantly avoided her since the news of her pregnancy came out. And though Rachel was slightly pushy and socially awkward, Quinn liked her, and she wanted her to be happy as well. That didn't mean she was going to push Finn straight into her arms, though. Not with that baby on the way.

"You're not going." she firmly told him, folding her invitation and dropping it to the table.

Finn gave her that wounded puppy-dog look she'd really come to despise lately. "Why not?"

Quinn rolled her eyes at his sheer stupidity. "Do you think I'm gonna let you walk straight into her arms? Do I look that stupid to you? Plus, you have about a hundred unfinished assignments and you need to get them written this weekend. If you wanna get good grades and get out of this town, you need to work for it, Finn! I'm not gonna be stuck here forever, even if we have a child!"

Finn sunk back in his chair, and Quinn just watched him. He wasn't even going to fight her on this. She couldn't believe him. What sort of guy was he? Someone who'd just let his girlfriend walk all over him? What kind of father was he going to be? Quinn groaned and pushed her chair back, before stomping out of the room, her invitation tugged in one hand. She slumped down in her tiny make-shift bedroom in the guest room, before unfolding the paper once more. It was obviously printed out from the computer, it had tiny flags and flowers on the edges and a picture of the entire Glee Club at the bottom. Rachel had signed the paper in her tiny handwriting.

It said,

_Hi Quinn. _

_Due to abrasive pushing from my two gay fathers, I feel the need to announce that since the following Saturday is my birthday, you are hereby invited to a small gathering at my house. I have invited the entirety of Glee Club and the party shall begin at 12.30 sharp. We will share a healthy meal before attempting to amuse ourselves with several different forms of entertainment. _

_I do not expect any gift of any form, only your presence is requested, since my fathers are happy that I for the first time in my life am apart of a group of people whom I can invite to a birthday party. _

_Love, _

_Rachel Barbara Berry * _

Quinn chuckled to herself as her eyes scanned the paper over once more. A simple text telling her to be where and at which time would have sufficed, but Rachel never did anything halfway. Of course these formal invitations would be the only way for her to go. And if Quinn knew Rachel just a little bit (which she did, admittedly), then she knew that the house would be decorated to perfection on Saturday.

She did have an appointment with her OB-GYN on Saturday, and she was going to drive there herself in Carole Hudson's car, since Finn was forced to spend his weekend in his room, catching up on school work, and Carole was going out to lunch with her friends. Her appointment with the OB-GYN was at eleven o'clock, and though it was cutting it short, Quinn thought that she'd be able to make it to the Berry household by twelve thirty. And for some weird reason, she actually did want to attend this thing. She rarely got out these days; she couldn't very well go to any of Puck or Santana's parties, and none of her other friends even spoke to her anymore. And it'd be a good way for her to bond with the other members of Glee Club, because she was sure that most of them would be at Rachel's birthday party as well.

So she told Rachel the next day at school. She met her in the hallway before homeroom and said to her that she'd be there. Rachel's face lit up in utter and complete joy as she excitedly clapped her hands, before starting to go on and on about the different kinds of entertainment she'd have prepared for them to do. Quinn barely listened, but instead let her eyes wander to Santana and Brittany, who were next to the blonde's locker, talking to each other, their faces mere inches apart. Cutting Rachel off in the middle of her ramble, Quinn excused herself and hurried down the hallway to her two best friends.

Santana stood up straighter as she approached them. "Why were you talking to Stubbles?" she demanded to know, a perfectly shaped eyebrow raised in a questionable manner.

"It was just about her birthday party this weekend." Quinn mumbled.

Santana's face lit up in pure evil joy, and Quinn wasn't sure if she was going to like this. "Oh get this!" the Latina cheered, her voiced a hurried whisper, "Brit and I told RuPaul we'd _so be there_, but instead of showing up, we're gonna go to the public library to make out and proclaim via Facebook that we had _nothing_ better to do."

Brittany blinked. "I wanted to go to the park to feed the ducks. But the ducks aren't here this time a year. Santana told me so."

Quinn completely ignored the other blonde and focused entirely on Santana. She could not believe they were going to blow Rachel off on her birthday – her actual birthday. Sure, Rachel probably wouldn't mind too much that the two of them weren't there, but it was still incredibly rude to tell someone you're attending something, then not show up – completely intentional. The pregnant girl stomped her foot. "Santana! Don't you think that that's just kinda mean?"

Santana huffed. "Kinda mean? It's epic, Q! And who wants to spend their Saturday celebrating Treasure Tail's 16th birthday? It's gonna be completely lame. Just because I'm in Glee Club now, doesn't mean it wanna huddle together after hours and sing karaoke together. Count me out."

Quinn rolled her eyes at her friend and turned to leave. She was not equipped to handle this. Not with her hormones and the entirely too sad reality that she really did have nothing better to do than attend Rachel's 16th birthday. But it's not like she'd deliberately try to hurt the diva the way Santana and Brittany were obviously trying to do if she'd had better things to do. She just wished that she had better plans and could tell Rachel a firm 'no' beforehand.

"You're going, I take it?" Santana's voice stopped her.

Turning around to face the two cheerleaders, Quinn placed her hands on her hips. "Yes. As a matter of fact, I am going, S."

Santana snorted. "Well, have fun hanging out with all the losers."

Quinn watched the two girls leave, their pinkies intertwined as usually, before she turned around to get to homeroom. She knew that Finn, Santana and Brittany weren't going to attend, but she felt pretty certain that the rest of the club would show up to celebrate Rachel – even Puck. He never said no to free food, and it might be kind of nice to hang out with him without Finn's presence lingering nearby as it always did at school.

She took a seat next to Finn in class and tuned him out, much like she'd done Rachel in the hallway. Sure, the diva had said that she didn't expect a present of any sort, but that was what you did at birthday parties, wasn't it? You showed up, handing the birthday girl/boy a gift and then got free food in exchange. She wanted to give Rachel something. A new outfit entirely seemed like a pretty good idea to Quinn, but the problem was that she really didn't have any money. After her parents cut her off, she lived off of Finn and his mother and she felt really guilty about not bringing anything to the table.

But how was she supposed to get money? No one wanted to hire a pregnant teenager with no experience. And whatever Finn made at the lousy job he got, it went straight to doctor's bills and vitamins. She didn't have any kind of money to spend on a birthday gift for Rachel. She'd have to come up with something that wouldn't cost her anything. Plus, it'd be nice if the gift was actually something Rachel liked (see, being pregnant really did make her consider other people more often!). But what did Rachel like despite the obvious factors of Broadway and music?

Quinn didn't know any Broadway, but she did know music. Maybe Rachel would be delighted to receive a gift consisting of music? The blonde girl smiled to herself. If the rest of the club was on-board, finding Rachel's present was going to be easy. And if they weren't on-board, she'd just sing it herself, damnit.

The former HBIC pulled her cell phone out beneath the table and quickly sent texts to the remaining seven members of Glee Club, asking them whether or not they had any plans for Rachel on her birthday. Feeling truly satisfied with her work and her ideas, Quinn thought that she'd done a very good deed today. If Rachel had never had a birthday party before, she was going to make sure that the first one she had was a good one.

**x **

Quinn nervously tapped her fingers against the steering wheel in Carole Hudson's old car, eyeing the tiny clock on the dashboard. Man, she was _so_ late! Rachel's birthday party had started two hours ago, and Quinn felt so bad. Not only for showing up late, but for not texting an excuse or apology. Under normal circumstances, she would have, but things had been hectic at her appointment and everything was delayed an hour and a half. And she felt bad, because once she finally arrived at the Berry household, the party would be started, and the others would have eaten, and she was _very_ hungry right now.

She figured Rachel wouldn't mind if she snuck into the kitchen to get something out of the fridge. Heck, her fathers would probably make something for her. If they were anything like Rachel, they'd be the two kindest parents alive. And they'd have to be like Rachel, because why else would Rachel be like Rachel?

Pausing at a red light, Quinn hoped that the others hadn't done the birthday song without her. It had been her idea and she wanted to be a part of it. Kurt had been thrilled to hear about the idea, though he'd also assured her that he'd give Rachel a gift card to the mall, and he'd personally take her and upgrade her wardrobe – which really. No one would mind. Those animal sweaters and all that argyle? Quinn was done with it. She'd been done with it since third grade. It was time Rachel got over it too. Though the blonde had to admit, that if anyone at McKinley could wear animal sweaters and somehow rock 'em? It would be Rachel Berry.

Puck had also been weirdly supported when she'd asked him to practise the song on his guitar for them. Before she talked to him, he'd even planned on going to the party, so it wasn't even like she had to force him to do it. Though he never hid the fact that he found Rachel slightly annoying, he also hadn't ever hidden the fact that he found her hot. (Which Quinn could, admittedly, agree he was kinda right about. Kinda).

Quinn turned the car and smiled to herself when she finally drove down the correct street. It was a typical neighbourhood in Lima – every street looked the same, though this was the richer part of town. Not as rich as she'd been before her parents disowned her, but definitely richer than where she was staying with Finn now. Quinn had never thought as Rachel as another of those rich girls, simply because she didn't act like it. But of course – her gay fathers were wealthy. They'd paid for all her dance/singing/acting lessons since she was a child after all, they'd have to make a decent living.

When the pregnant girl drove up in front of what – she assumed – was the right house, she furrowed her brow in confusion. Sure, there were small flags paving the way from the street up the path to the front porch steps, but there were no cars around. Except for what she assumed was her two fathers' cars. She couldn't see Puck's truck anywhere on this street, and not Kurt's or Mike's cars either. This confused the hell out of her. She parked the car against the curb nonetheless, and got out, grabbing her purse and huddling herself in her coat for the thirty second walk to the front door. There was snow everywhere, but it was removed from the pavement and the path, which she was thankful for. Her tiny ballet flats wouldn't have made it two seconds in a pile of snow.

Quinn scurried up to the front door and hurriedly poked the doorbell a couple of times. She couldn't wait to get inside. Hopefully Rachel had taken the cold weather into account and made them all some hot cocoa (even if it would damage their vocal chords. Quinn hoped that the diva figured that her own birthday would be an exception to her normal very extensive diet).

When the front door opened, Quinn came face to face with a short man with glasses. She smiled. This must be Rachel's Jewish father. She knew her other father was much taller and more buff, and she was quite happy that he hadn't opened the door to greet her. The tiny man in front of her smiled at her.

"Uhm hi?" she managed to mumble, extending a hand to shake with his. He tentatively took it and she took that as a sign to continue. "I'm Quinn Fabray. I'm in Glee Club with Ru – with Rachel. I'm here for her birthday party?"

His face lit up completely and he opened the door further, inviting her into the warm hallway. "Hello! Hi." he smiled. "I'm Rachel's father Hiram."

Quinn neatly placed her flats in the hallway and hung her winter coat on the rack. Looking around the place, she realised that it was oddly quiet. "I'm sorry, I'm late." she told him, placing a protective hand on her stomach, which was something she did like most other pregnant women. "My doctor's appointment ran late. Did I miss the entire party?"

Hiram placed an arm around her shoulders and let her through the hallway and into a comfortable kitchen in bright happy colours. "We're so happy you're here." he mumbled, glancing up at his husband, whom Quinn knew was named Leroy (see, she listened when Rachel talked!).

"I'm Leroy Berry." the other man said, and Quinn felt intimidated. This was the guy who scared off potential boyfriends, Quinn was sure of it. But she shook his hand nonetheless and introduced herself.

"Rachel's in the living room." Hiram smiled at her, placing an arm around his husband's waist. Though he seemed somewhat happy, Quinn could tell from the look on Leroy's face, that something wasn't completely right.

Quinn glanced towards the entrance, not knowing whether or not she dared to go in there. She looked back to the couple in front of her and shifted awkwardly on her feet. "Uh – what happened? Did everyone leave?"

Leroy gave her a serious look. "No one showed up."

Quinn felt her eyes bulge out, while Hiram's eyes filled with tiny tears. No one showed up? Why – but _how_? Quinn felt her insides tighten as the sad reality settled in her head. Rachel had been waiting for two hours for her guests, and no one had come. Quinn certainly didn't understand why because everyone but Finn had said that they wanted to attend, and she thought that that was just downright shitty of everyone.

"I feel like this is all our fault!" Hiram cried, looking up at his husband. "We were the ones who pressured her into having this party to begin with. She didn't wanna have it, Leroy, she told us she didn't. And I just pushed and pushed and _pushed_ her! And now our baby is sitting in there, heartbroken that her so-called friends treated her like this!" he then continued to cry into Leroy's embrace, and Quinn felt like this was probably the time to leave.

She smiled weakly at Leroy who tried to sustain Hiram's sobbing, and Quinn turned around to get the hell out of there. But instead of going for the front door to get to her car and get home, she did the only thing she could possibly do in this situation if she wanted to live with herself. The Quinn she was before she got pregnant would have found this situation absolutely hilarious, but she wasn't that person anymore – far from. The only thing she could do in this situation was to go and find Rachel. She knew that Rachel probably would have preferred if Tina or Artie (or even Kurt or Mercedes) had showed up, but she was as best as Rachel was going to get it. At least Rachel would know that someone actually cared that it was her birthday. (Quinn didn't really care that much, but she knew it must suck to be stuck with your two parents on your 16th birthday).

And she wasn't going to let their team get away with this. Not after everything Rachel had done for them. She was the reason they'd gotten as far as they had. She was the reason they were good enough to compete in Sectionals in a few weeks – and she was the _sole_ reason that they were going to win and continue to Regionals. And it wasn't fair for them to treat her this way. It was inexcusable, and Quinn had a feeling that her pregnancy hormones would be taken to good use on Monday morning when she told them all off.

The blonde girl made her way through the house, glancing into every room she passed, hoping to find the brunette diva in one of them, and finally, by the end of the hallway, she stepped right into a huge living room. It was decorated beautifully. There were balloons, flags and the radio was playing softly in the background. And by the decorated table that held drinks and candy in small bowls, sat Rachel, a party had slightly crooked on her head. She had her head in her hands, and Quinn could see small tear stains on her cheeks. She was fingering a tiny flag, waving it back and forth, while mumbling the chorus to _Happy Birthday to You_ beneath her breath.

She looked so sad, it broke Quinn's heart.

Stepping fully into the room, Quinn cradled her tiny baby bump again and cleared her throat. "Happy birthday, Rachel." she whispered.

The diva's head immediately shot up, and as soon as their eyes met, Rachel's face lit up in that gorgeous smile she usually only wore when she was singing. Her brown eyes looked confused for a second, before she pushed her chair back and stood up, rubbing her cheeks rapidly. "Quinn!" she eagerly said.

Quinn crossed the floor and stopped in front of her, on the other side of the table. "I'm sorry I'm late," she said, feeling like the tension in the room could be cut with a knife. "my doctor's appointment ran late, and I had to drive from there and..." she trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"You didn't miss the party." Rachel huffed and fell onto her chair again, settling her elbows on the table. "Don't worry about it, no one bothered to show up."

Quinn took a seat in front of her. She didn't know what to say, so what came out was pretty stupid. "Well... I'm sorry."

Rachel locked her eyes to hers again, and Quinn could see that they were shiny with tears. "No one cares about me. I know Finn couldn't come, he told me so. But Santana and Brittany said they'd be here, instead they went to the library and informed everyone via Facebook that they had, and I quote, _nothing fucking better to do, especially not attend RuPaul's birthday party_." she sniffed. "I don't know why I expected Puck to show, but I'd thought better of Tina."

Quinn really felt bad for her, she really did. She never thought she'd face the day, but she felt hurt on behalf of Rachel. Not even in the pitying kind of way. She was truly hurt on her behalf. Rachel really didn't have many friends, did she? "Maybe something came up." Quinn half-heartedly offered, knowing it was in vain.

The singer offered her a weak smile. "Thanks for trying, but I know what came up. Their hate for me. No one likes me, Quinn. They all tolerate me because I'm the only way we can win at Sectionals. But they didn't wanna come. If they didn't wanna come, why didn't they just say so? I wouldn't have wasted my breath trying to do this!" she cried, as another amount of tears started spilling down her cheeks.

"I don't hate you." Quinn gently whispered, reaching a soft hand across the table to place it on Rachel's. She didn't know what came over her, because up until a few hours ago, she would have been sure that she did, but right this moment, she was beginning to realise that there was a lot more to Rachel Berry than what just meets the eye. "I don't just tolerate you because of your voice. I wanted to come."

Rachel swallowed loudly and turned her hand over, her palm meeting Quinn's, and before the blonde could comprehend what had happened, Rachel had their fingers intertwined tightly. "Thank you." she whispered in a raspy voice, her long lashes blinking away the leftover tears.

Quinn felt a genuine smile coming to her face. They had been rare since she found out that she was pregnant, and it was very surprising for her to realise that Rachel was the one to put it on her face. "What do you say? You still wanna celebrate your birthday? What did you have in mind for us to do?"

Rachel tried a small smile, and Quinn felt her heart swell slightly. "I'm actually pretty famished by now. We were meant to have lunch two hours ago, but what do you say? Should we order some pizza?"

Pizza had never sounded better in Quinn's ears. "I'd like that. Why don't we watch a musical while we eat? It's your birthday, your choice."

Rachel's smile grew even bigger then. "Yes." she said, and Quinn could tell that some of her usual self was coming back in full force. She untangled her hand from Quinn's and stood up. "Why don't you go tell my fathers of our plans and I'll go upstairs to freshen up a bit?"

Quinn didn't really want to be alone with the two men she barely knew, but she figured she should try to make the rest of Rachel's birthday a good one. So she just nodded, and as Rachel hurried up the stairs, she hesitantly returned to the kitchen, but luckily enough, Hiram had finished crying and seemed much more happy at this point.

"Uhm, Rachel wants... pizza?" Quinn questioned, her eyes shifting from the tall man to the small man.

Leroy's face lit up and he opened a drawer in the kitchen, picking out a take-out menu. "If she wants pizza, that means she must have cheered up a bit."

Hiram nodded eagerly and Quinn could tell that they loved Rachel more than anything in this world; it oozed right out of their every word and action. She was their baby, and they'd do anything for her. Quinn wasn't sure if they knew how she was being treated at school. But Rachel was a very honest person, so Quinn had a feeling she would have shared that with her parents. The blonde just hoped that they didn't know how she used to treat Rachel – that would be so awkward.

"We're so happy you came here, Quinn." Hiram said, looking her straight in the eye. "You don't know what it means to us. What it means to Rach..."

Quinn took a small step closer and rested her hand on the corner of the table. "I – I wanted to come." she said. (She felt like she'd been saying that a lot lately).

Leroy looked up from the take-out menu and flashed her a huge grin. "You wouldn't happen to love bacon, huh?"

Quinn couldn't help the grin that came to her face then. "I _live_ for bacon!"

"Two against two." Leroy informed his husband, kissing his cheek for good measure, before he turned to Quinn with an explanation. "They never let me eat bacon in this house, even if I get my own pizza. But now that you're here..." he grinned evilly, "You wanna share a bacon pizza with me?"

She felt herself break into a huge grin, nodding her head like crazy. "I'd love to!"

The man did a funny little dance, before he picked up the phone to call in their orders. Hiram rolled his eyes at his husband and Quinn couldn't help but chuckle. She had a feeling that this family wasn't like any other family (it was obvious in some ways because of the fact that Rachel had two fathers, but it wasn't obvious that they were this crazy and lovable right off the bat). But really? Was it that surprising? Rachel would have to have gotten her craziness from somewhere. Quinn thought that she could very quickly get used to hanging around Leroy and Hiram Berry.

"Did Rachel mention what she wanted to do while we ate?" Hiram asked Quinn then, looking up at her from beneath his glasses.

Quinn licked her lips. She could feel another grin coming on.

"Musical!" she exclaimed, just as Hiram had come to that conclusion as well. They stared at each other for two seconds then, before they both broke into chuckles.

Hiram closed his laptop. "Musical? How can I even ask? Don't I know my own daughter?"

Quinn shrugged her shoulders, and continued to make small-talk with Rachel's two fathers, while they waited for the pizza to arrive, and for Rachel to come back downstairs. They got plates and cups and drinks ready and carried everything into the living room. And just before the pizza arrived, Rachel announced that they'd be watching _Funny Girl_. Quinn wasn't really surprised, and neither were her fathers.

So they ate pizza and drink soda (Rachel was exceptionally relaxed about the amount of sugar _and_ dairy she was eating) while watching the musical. Rachel sang along wonderfully, and so did Hiram (though not so wonderfully). Leroy silently whispered into her ear that this was like any usual Friday night at their house, and Quinn just watched in amazement as the Berrys interacted. They were a special family. Quinn had always thought that what she and her sister had with their parents was a really, truly happy family, simply because her parents were still together. But she realised now that that wasn't right. Her parents weren't happy, they weren't a happy family. They'd never done such things; she and her sister had never been allowed to really _be_ kids. She was jealous of Rachel then, realising that she had these two amazing fathers who loved her and gave her everything.

But she also felt angry. Angry at all the people (including her own parents and those people at Church) who thought that what the Berrys were wasn't right. It seemed all kinds of right to Quinn. Why couldn't they be happy? They were happy! Practically all of her friends had parents who were divorced or cheating on each other. The Berrys weren't like that. They actually loved each other. And people wanted to mess with that? It didn't seem right to her.

After pizza and the movie was over, Rachel seemed to be truly happy again. Quinn was glad that even though her birthday party hadn't turned out the way she wanted, it still seemed that she was really happy. Leroy and Hiram cleaned the coffee table off and left the two girls alone again, returning to the kitchen. Rachel scurried across the floor in her fluffy socks and grabbed a yellow party hat. When she returned to the sofa, she placed it on Quinn's head and carefully slid the elastic band beneath her chin.

"There. Now you're really gorgeous, Quinn Fabray." Rachel whispered, leaning back in her seat again, studying Quinn with huge eyes.

Quinn made a face, because her chest just tightened entirely. "You say that as if I'm not gorgeous normally!"

Rachel's smile grew. "You're always gorgeous, Quinn."

They stared at each other for a few seconds then, not really sure what to say. But this silence wasn't as awkward as it had been before, the tension wasn't a bad one. Quinn just felt truly happy. Happier than she'd been in a very long time. It was good to be here with Rachel, better than she'd thought it'd be. She was beginning to understand what it was that both Finn and Puck saw in the tiny girl. Despite the fact that she was ridiculously talented and totally gorgeous, she was just really sweet. And she had a gigantic heart. Quinn was beginning to really like everything about her.

As much as it fucking scared her.

Leroy broke their comfortable silence then, by carefully stepping into the living room, balancing a steamy cup of something in each hand. "I made cocoa." he sheepishly told them. "Why don't you grab your coats and a few blankets and go outside? You can sit on the porch swing and watch the Christmas lights in the backyard."

Quinn thought that that was probably the best suggestion she'd ever heard. She and Rachel threw on their winter coats, Quinn took the two cocoas and Rachel grabbed a stack of blankets from the living room. They stepped outside on the backyard porch, and Quinn immediately felt pleased with the beautiful decorations. She hurried to the small swing by the side and she and Rachel huddled close together, the three blankets wrapped tightly around them, and with each a cup.

They were both still wearing their stupid party hats, but Quinn didn't care. She scooted closer to Rachel (if that was even possible) and gulped down a few sips of cocoa. She'd been dreaming of something like this all day long. The cocoa, you know. Not the intimate moment with Rachel Berry.

"We have these lights up every year." Rachel told her, breaking the silence between them. "We celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah in this house, you know. And Daddy and I put all these lights up one year when I was like – five... and we did it to surprise Dad. He was so happy. We've done it every year since, and he always pretends to be surprised when he gets home from work on December first and sees the lights in the backyard."

Quinn chuckled. That was such a nice tradition to have. She'd never had anything like that with her parents. Except for going to Church on Sunday. "Your parents really love you." the blonde said, turning her eyes to meet Rachel's deep brown ones, only inches from her own. "I'm a little jealous. If you got pregnant at sixteen, they wouldn't throw you out, they'd support you."

Rachel nodded. "They'd support me. They'd be disappointed that I made a poor choice in life because it could affect my future in show business, but they'd support me in whichever decision I made regarding the hypothetical baby."

Quinn reached her free hand, the one beneath the bunch of blankets, towards Rachel's and lead it to her baby bump, placing it there, tucked beneath her own. "Sometimes I wanna keep her," she honestly whispered, ignoring the hot tingly feeling that erupted from Rachel's warm hand. It went through all the layers of clothes. "but then I just know.. I'll never get out of Lima if I do. Plus..." she squeezed her eyes shot and felt Rachel hold her breath next to her, "I really want to help a wonderful couple start a beautiful family. It could be a couple like your fathers. They were helped once, when they got you. I want to do that for somebody, too."

"That couple will love you forever, if you do." Rachel assured her, rubbing her hand gently against her baby bump.

Quinn turned her head to Rachel's again then, and this time, their noses were actually touching. She could feel Rachel's breath on her lips, see the white fog that came between their mouths when they breathed. And Rachel locked their eyes together; her deep brown pools were filled with everything; she wore her heart on her sleeve. Quinn wanted to be honest too – to tell her something she had told no one but _one_.

"The baby is not Finn's, you know." she blurted out, before she even started to imagine what would happen if Rachel knew. The blonde had seen the way she was with Finn – would she tell him? Would she spill the secret? Quinn had a feeling that she wouldn't. Not after today, not after this afternoon.

Rachel's eyes moved over her face gently; from her left eye to her right, to her nose, her lips. She met her look again, completely in wonder. "It's Noah's baby..." she whispered then, realisation settling on her face.

Quinn nodded. "I don't know how to tell Finn. Puck wants him to know, I just – I'm tired of lying. The truth must out."

Rachel turned her hand over again, much like she'd done inside, and their fingers interlocked, on top of Quinn's baby bump. "You just have to be brave." she whispered.

"Brave?" Quinn choked out, the word getting stuck in her throat. She'd never been brave before. Not really.

"Yes." Rachel hoarsely whispered back, before she leaned in a bit closer, squeezing Quinn's hand tightly. She rubbed her nose against Quinn's unfeeling nose, which was red from the cold wind on her face, though the rest of her body was on fire. She could feel Rachel's breath on her again, before soft, cheery red lips were placed upon her own, and Rachel pecked them once, twice, before pulling back. "Brave like that."

Quinn swallowed loudly, getting used to the tingly feeling Rachel's touch prickled her skin with. "Brave..." Quinn whispered to herself, tasting the word on her tongue. And then she broke into a tiny grin, squeezing Rachel's hand right back. "Brave!" she repeated, before bending her head over, placing her lips on Rachel's again. And this time, it wasn't just a peck and two. She felt the tiny diva responding to her kiss with eager, before their mouths opened, and tongues sought each other out for a battle or warmth and heat.

The pregnant ex-cheerleader really couldn't explain how this day had turned out with her kissing Rachel Berry on her porch, but it somehow felt exactly right. Screw Finn, her dumb boyfriend, and Puck, the badass father of her unborn child. Screw what was going to happen between her and Rachel on Monday at school. She didn't even know if anything would happen, but the moment felt right to her. And even if she used to hate Rachel, to torment her and call her names, this moment, there was nothing manly about the way her soft lips caressed her own, or the way her tiny fingers seemed to pull her even closer.

When they pulled back, Quinn saw the uncertainty in Rachel's eyes, and knew that the singer was unsure about everything; their talk, their kiss; this day. "I'm sorry your birthday didn't turn out the way you wanted it to." Quinn whispered, their faces still inches apart.

Rachel's face broke into a grin, "I'm _not_." she firmly said, before Quinn felt her tug at her coat a bit more, and their lips met again.

**x**

When Rachel entered school on Monday, her lips were still tingling from where Quinn's had been Saturday night. Sunday, she hadn't gotten out of bed for her usual workout routine (even though she badly needed it after the amount of unhealthy food she ate the day before...), but instead she'd stayed in bed and thought about Quinn and what had happened between them the day before. She'd practically done nothing but that the entire Sunday, only stopping to briefly help her fathers clean up after _her_ party in the living room.

They'd been going on and on about how wonderful Quinn was, asked her why she hadn't brought her around before, and Rachel had only been able to shrug. The Quinn she'd experienced Saturday, wasn't a Quinn she'd ever seen before. And that confused her – completely. And though she felt really bad that the blonde was lying to Finn (he did _not_ deserve that!), she wasn't going to do anything about it. It was Quinn's turn to be brave.

They had Glee before their regular classes, so she stopped by her locker to place her books there, before she moved towards the choir room. She wasn't particularly looking forward to seeing everybody after the way they'd treated her this weekend, but she knew she just had to. But she wasn't going to mention a thing; she'd just completely ignore them all, and hopefully one of them would feel bad at _some _point during the day.

She was the first of the students to arrive, but that wasn't shocking, so she took a seat in the front row and stared at Mr. Schuester, who was flipping through some sheet music as she entered. It took him a few seconds, before he looked up at her then, and offered her a soft smile.

"Rachel!" he said, sticking his hands into his pockets. "Good morning. Did you have a good weekend?"

"Good morning, Mr. Schue." Rachel replied nonchalantly, nodding her head. "It was quite something. Thank you."

Mr. Schuester looked briefly towards the door to the left of him, before continuing, "I heard that... that it was your birthday and that you had a party?"

Rachel could feel herself grow tense. She didn't want to get into this, not now. Not when people could walk in whenever and hear her talk about it. She didn't want to think about it, only the good things; only Quinn being there, Quinn talking honestly with her, Quinn... Quinn kissing her.

She cleared her throat awkwardly. "It was my birthday, yes."

"I see." Mr. Schuester bobbed his head, before trailing a little off to the side of the room. "I eh... I believe that I know a few people, who have something they'd like to say to you. Very much."

And before Rachel could question him what was going on, she heard the distinctive sound of guitar strumming, and through the door Mr. Schuester had just glanced at, came Puck with his guitar, strumming the tune to a song she didn't recognize. Behind him was Quinn, wearing a gigantic smile on her face, and behind her, was the rest of the Glee Club, filing into the room, standing before her in a straight line, with Quinn and Puck in centre.

Puck stopped strumming his guitar, and Quinn stepped forward, placing a light peck on her cheek, before she stood up straight again. "There's someone who'd like to say something to you."

Santana actually looked bummed when she stepped forward and cleared her throat. "Sorry about Saturday, Stubbles. I figured you really didn't want me there. But Brit and I were rude." she glanced at the ditzy cheerleader next to her. "Quinn had a hormone endorsed rage fit on everybody this morning, and we all really feel bad. Sorry we weren't there for your birthday when you really wanted us to."

"Yeah, sorry Rachel," Mercedes butted in, and Rachel could tell that she actually meant it, "my Dad suddenly got me three tickets to see this band, and I know I shouldn't have chosen that over you, but Tina, Kurt and I went. We could at least have texted you."

Tina dared to look up from her feet. "Ye- yeah. S-s-sorry Rachel."

"We were shitty friends." Kurt replied, shaking his head.

Mike shrugged his shoulders and looked at her as well. "We got caught up in a game, and totally forgot all about it." he replied, motioning for himself, Puck and Matt. "We felt bad."

Artie offered her an apologetic smile. "And Dad got called into work and couldn't drive me to your house. I should have called you. I'm sorry, Rachel."

"And I'm sorry too," Quinn added, quite pleased with everyone, even if they weren't doing this because they wanted to. She'd had to threaten all of them, and promise them several different things she was never going to pull through on, for them to be there right now. But it was worth it, because Rachel had a smile on her face as she took in everything they were telling her. She was buying it, all of it. She was naïve like that. And while Quinn thought that it was somehow stupid for her to always see the best in people, it was one of the really great things about Rachel. "that I wasn't able to give you my birthday present for you on Saturday, even after you gave me one of the best days I've had in awhile."

Rachel blinked, looking up at Quinn with confused eyes. "But I didn't want a present, Quinn!"

The blonde felt herself smile. "No. But I wanted to give you one. We'd prepared a – a birthday song for you." she said, looking at the rest of the club behind her. "But now we're prepared something else. Another song for you."

"Because we all care about you, Rachel!" Finn added, a huge grin on his face.

"Even if you're really annoying, we do care, Rachel." Brittany added, clapping her hands together.

Quinn locked her eyes with Rachel's, remembering what had happened between them on Saturday. "Some of us care a lot, you know." she whispered, "Happy belated birthday, Rach." she said then as she stepped back into line with the others, and Puck started to strum his guitar again.

And as they started singing to her, Rachel couldn't believe all the trouble Quinn had gone through for her sake. She'd gotten them all to prepare this piece for her, gotten them all to apologise. And though Rachel selfishly hoped they all meant it, she knew they would have never told her, if Quinn hadn't told them to.

Quinn opened her mouth to sing, beautifully, along to Puck's guitar,

"_Hey you  
I know I'm in the wrong  
Time flies  
When you're having fun  
You wake up  
Another year is gone  
You're sixteen, hon._"

Tina continued,

"_I guess you wanna know  
Why I'm on the phone  
It's been a day or so  
I know it's kind of late  
But Happy Birthday!_"

And they all joined in – every each of them – on the chorus, and Rachel felt her heart melt. She knew they didn't love her, heck, most of them still didn't even like her. But they were in this together. And if they couldn't be there for each other through good things, like birthdays, and bad things, like teenage pregnancies, then what else could they do? Certainly not win Sectionals! 

"_Yeah yeah whoa  
I know you hate me  
Yeah yeah whoa  
Well I miss you, too  
Yeah yeah I know  
I know it's kinda late  
But Happy Birthday!_

_Yeah yeah whoa  
I know you hate me  
Yeah yeah whoa  
Well I miss you, too  
Yeah yeah I know  
I know it's kinda late  
But Happy Birthday!_"

As Puck strummed the guitar and finished off the song, everyone erupted into cheers and applause, and Rachel couldn't help but smile at them all. She felt herself being pulled into a few hugs, getting a few whispered 'congratulations', but as she found herself in Quinn's arms, the baby bump pressed into her stomach, she was the one who whispered.

"Thank you."

Quinn pulled back and locked their eyes for just a second. "You're welcome, Rach." she murmured back, before Rachel was husked away into Finn's awaiting arms.

She had no idea what was going to happen with her and Quinn, but something had definitely changed between them. Whether it was just for the better, or if they were actually going to talk about their kisses, she didn't know. But maybe that was okay for right now. Quinn had a lot to figure out, and until then?

Rachel would just have to be brave and wait it out.

* * *

_Hello everybody! Thanks for tuning in to my little piece of fiction. I hope you quite enjoyed it. It was my first Faberry. I've been a reader for a long time, and I've juggled around with a few ideas. But it's been hard for me to write this and post this, because this fandom, this couple, has a lot of amazing writers. Seriously! I don't think I've ever really read a bad Faberry fiction, you're all so articulate and grammatically correct. Which is something I really appreciate when I read fanfiction. But still, I thought I should be brave too, and post this. I hope you liked it. _

_I was doubting whether to leave it after the kisses, but I figured, that since the song and particularly everyone apologising was what got me started on this fiction, I should probably include that ;-) _

_Please drop off your thoughts in a review? I've got plenty of Faberry ideas sitting on my laptop, just waiting to be written, so hopefully I'll be back soon enough! _

_**Disclaimer; **I don't own Glee, and I don't own the song, which is called 'Happy Birthday' and is by The Click Five (I altered one line to fit the story). _


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